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Pantera

Though Pantera's first four albums found them emulating the glam-metal stylings of their heroes, Kiss and Van Halen, by 1990 they'd reinvented themselves as the kings of groove metal on their major-label debut, COWBOYS FROM HELL. When FAR BEYOND DRIVEN debuted at the top of Billboard's album chart four years later, their status as the biggest band in heavy metal was all but confirmed.

Formed in Arlington, Texas, in the early '80s by brothers Darrell and Vincent Abbott, better known as "Diamond" Darrell (guitar) and Vinnie Paul (drums), Pantera was rounded out by singer Terry Glaze and bassist Rex Brown who joined in 1982 - just in time for the band's first three albums, the independently released METAL MAGIC (1983), PROJECTS IN THE JUNGLE (1984), and I AM THE NIGHT (1985). Soon after, the band and Glaze parted ways, paving the way for singer Phil Anselmo to join in '87 and Pantera's classic lineup to jell over the next decade.

After Anselmo's initiation into the group on 1988's POWER METAL, the boys ditched the spandex and the Aqua Net and stopped trying to beat MÃ¶tley CrÃ¼e at their own game. Signing with Atco Records in '89, Pantera released COWBOYS FROM HELL the following year and never looked back.

The band's punishing new sound, stripped down to allow for maximum aural assault, featured militant riffs and bluesy solos from Darrell's guitar, a percussion style that earned Vinnie Paul the nickname "the Brick Wall," and guttural growls and barks that made some listeners question Anselmo's mental health. VULGAR DISPLAY OF POWER, their 1992 follow-up, went even further, providing proof of the art of noise on tracks like "Mouth for War" and "Walk."

By the time FAR BEYOND DRIVEN debuted at number one in 1994, Darrell had changed his nickname from "Diamond" to "Dimebag," signaling that Pantera was by the metalheads, for the metalheads, even if they were now making platinum records.

After Driven the band explored side projects, with Darrell appearing on Anthrax's Stomp 442 (1995) and Anselmo forming the metal supergroup Down. Pantera reconvened for 1996's THE GREAT SOUTHERN TRENDKILL, showing off a more subdued side of the band on songs like "Suicide Note Pt. I," and â€œFloodsâ€ which features what is thought to be one of the greatest guitar solos of all time.

Indeed, it wasn't until two years later that Pantera put aside the side projectsâ€”Eibon and Viking Crown for Anselmo, the David Allan Coe collaboration Rebel Meets Rebel for the Abbotts and Brownâ€”long enough to record Reinventing the Steel (2000). REINVENTING THE STEEL debuted at #4 on the Billboard 200 and the band set out to conquer audiences around the world with a tour that took them to Canada, Asia, Australia and Europe. Once home, Pantera planned to record another studio album, but due to side-projects and communication issues, they would ultimately split-up in 2003.